Apple iBook G4, 1.33 GHz, 768MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, Internal Review

Customer Ratings:

I've had a 12" iBook G4 since 2005 and it's still my favorite notebook for browsing the internet, writing letters, and even reading pdf's. It's very lightweight and I consider the screen the perfect size. It's held up very well. One of the keys has a hairline crack and one of the rubber feet on the bottom fell off but I clean it every month or so and it still looks almost new.

My only criticism is that it gets a little warm so I keep it on top of a clipboard when holding it in my lap. No viruses, no crashes, no worries.

When netbooks started becoming popular a couple of years ago, I had to laugh because I already have a lightweight, handy netbook. In fact, I'm using it right now to write this review. Given a choice between a new Asus or Dell netbook or a used iBook G4 for the same price, I would take the G4 without thinking about it for a second.

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I have had my ibook for almost 5 years now. I bought it Christmas of '05. I am going to tell the problems I have had with it first because that's probably what your most interested in.

The biggest problem I had was the battery. It worked great for about 3 years then died completely. (this can be expected with any rechargeable battery)

Other than that there have been NO MAJOR PROBLEMS EVER. I have not once taken it in for a tune-up, repair, inspection, ect.

The only minor hindrances are as follows:

The keyboard doesn't light up which makes typing in the dark difficult.

For some reason my hard-drive is almost full so everytime I search for something in the search bar, it runs really slow.

It doesn't use an IBM processor so I guess you can say it is a true blood mac, which makes some programs incompatible.

Now the good stuff:

I actually think that if you consider it was made 5 years ago, it is a better computer than what apple makes now. I was way ahead of its time and it still works great! The user face is really easy, it has done everything I have asked it, it just works. I cannot say enough good things about this computer. If you are just an average computer person looking for a nice little laptop, I highly recommend it. The only reason I'm getting a new one is because I like the camera, faster processor, and added memory. Only after 5 years am I just starting to see it become slightly outdated. I actually think that back in the day apple gave you more for less. This computer came with its own word processing program and a lot of added software. The new ones require you to buy every piece of software. And this one has a removable battery which allowed me to charge 2-3 batteries for road trips and just pop them in as I went through them. I think apple's biggest mistake with the new laptops is the nonremovable battery. When it dies, that's it, find an outlet. And eventually when it completely dies (and it will probably only last 3 years) they want you to pay a technician for labor+parts to put a new one in. It's ridiculous! If you can get this computer for a low price. Go for it!

2 Years Later:

It is now 2012, and my dad is STILL using this laptop every day. I must warn you, it has become outdated to a point where it's really not worth buying. Everything is today's world has become tailored towards Intel processors. But the fact that is still doing what it was built to do is amazing! This mac has served us well, and we certainly got our moneys worth. I highly recommend one of apples new macbooks.

Best Deals for Apple iBook G4, 1.33 GHz, 768MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, Internal

This thing was made 5 years ago and keeps up with my brand new netbook. The battery life is amazing and it runs smooth. The only downside to this computer is the 40gb HD. But with networked and regular external drives, flash memory and such, it not that big of a deal.

All in all, this is my first mac and I love it.

Honest reviews on Apple iBook G4, 1.33 GHz, 768MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, Internal

Just recieved my G4 Ibook recently and I can honestly say I love it! im a college student and my pc laptops kept freezing and crashing nonstop! and I really wanted a mac but I didnt have the "mac" money or so I thought. This is my first mac and its life saver! for less than $300 dollars you can have a portable mac that does everything a $1000+ new mac does ( minus the camera)... It does get warm but that isnt a real big issue with me...as far as battery life it doesnt seem to be the greatest, in my case it isnt a problem because I intend on having my charger with me. I think people should consider this computer as a start mac.

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This G4 iBook is old (6+ years I believe), it has a small hard drive by current standards, a small screen (near netbook size), and an operating system some view as out of date BUT, the machine is quick has a full GB of memory, has an internal airport extreme card, and if we are really serious about portable computing needs this machine beat the heck out of netbook, at a lower cost and better performance. Old Apples Just Don't Seem To Go Bad at least not as quickly as some more recent machines.

Review of Acer Aspire AS5741Z-5539 15.6-Inch HD Wi-Fi Laptop (Black)

Customer Ratings:

I've been using this laptop for about a week and overall I am very happy with this purchase. The machine is fast, the screen is looks amazing (glossy, FYI), very bright and no dead pixels. Another plus is that there was not excessive bloatware on this unit, and I only had to remove a handful of trial software, un-needed apps and desktop shortcuts to clean it up. The speakers sound good, and HDMI out is a nice option (though we're unlikely to use it). I like, too, that the outside of the case is matte, so it does not attract fingerprints.

I removed one star for two key reasons:

The keyboard is "soft"; we're clicky-keyboard family. It's layout is fine, comfortable, etc, but it will take some time to adjust to the softness of this keyboard.

I was unable to connect to my 5GHz wireless N network, but a few comments about this:

I have a dual-band router (Linksys WRT600N), sending both G and N speeds separately. This Acer was unable to connect to the N, but the G connection was fine. Note that my work laptop connects to the N network without issue. I think it may have to do with a newer wireless chipset in this unit because, although it only connects to G, it's reporting speeds of 130mbs (over the 54mbs 802.11G standard). Regardless, we're happy with the wireless performance and speed so far, but disappointing and frustrating it didn't "just work".

I tried contacting Acer support and though I only had the unit less that week, they stated that they did not have resources to assist me with this problem and directed me to fee-based support. Frankly, I find that a bit appalling. I happen to be fairly technical, but if you need basic support from a company, it's best to look elsewhere. This was the main reason for the star coming off.

In summary, if you need an affordable, full-featured laptop, this is a great option, but only if you're comfortable digging out of your own support holes -Acer is not your friend post-sale. Extra props to Amazon (as always) for crediting me when the price dropped prior to my receiving the computer.

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The laptop looks very simple and very business like without too much jazz however it performs well.

The on board intel p6000 processor is great and very energy efficient making the battery life here great. The laptop is Perfect for all your basic laptop usage like web browsing video chatting, wrod processing and probably more.

While the keyboard is full with numeric keypad, I rated the keyboard as a con due to the smaller than usual dedicated arrow keys. All other keys are just fine.

Highlights for me overall are:

-15.6" bright screen with full sized keyboard/dedicated numeric keypad

-Intel p6000

-battery life is good for a 15.6 inch laptop

-N wireless card

-HDMI port

Cons for me overall:

-smaller than usual dedicated arrow keys

right click and left click mouse button is combined

Best Deals for Acer Aspire AS5741Z-5539 15.6-Inch HD Wi-Fi Laptop (Black)

I bought this laptop in August very skeptical. The price was very good for the hardware.

In laptop as a whole looks very sleek and trendy. Many of my friends have complimented on the looks of it. The keyboard is a little noisy after some use but I enjoy the way it is designed. The multi-touch gestures that are on the laptop are very handy. It does not have many as a MacBook but the small ones it does have, for things like zoom in and zoom out, are very useful. The laptop has a very good battery life. I find the performance of the laptop very good overall. It can handle my small day to day web games and other activities such as just web browsing and also my heavy games such as Guild Wars. The laptops cooling system is pretty efficient, I have not had an overheating problem. The Webcam is a good one, but the program they initially give you to use has odd features that mess with the lighting in a bad way. If you use another program though it is a very good webcam. The computer has yet to be slow or give me any problems with the software or general running of it, minus the few flaws I will mention in the next paragraph. The sound quality is very good, as is the wifi card.

On the other hand I am very displeased with three things. First the headphone jack suddenly stopped working. This is very problematic when you have a roommate and are not tired. The screen breaks very easily, it took a small tumble and had numerous cracks on the screen and the screen only shows white. Comparing this to my old Dell XPS M1530 which has taken much more brutal drops and never cracked but once and it was just one that only caused half the screen to not work. So I was pretty disappointed that it was not as durable as I would have liked. The last thing that was not to my liking was the customer service. I have dealt with HP, DELL, and even HYPERSONIC when it was still around and have never come across a customer service so bad. I called about the screen, which I thought would be covered under the warranty, and the representative told me that the screen was not but anything else was. That made no sense to me, and I would have asked but I felt as though I could not talk to the lady because of her thick accent, and what seemed to be lack of caring or just lack of understanding English, which I am guessing the latter from her thick accent. If I enjoyed fake pleasantries as in saying "Sorry" every time I spoke then I would call back. Other then that they do nothing, which I was hoping for options which I asked for but did not get.

All in all, I do enjoy the laptop. Minus those three flaws I am very happy with the purchase.

Honest reviews on Acer Aspire AS5741Z-5539 15.6-Inch HD Wi-Fi Laptop (Black)

As the saying goes, "You get what you pay for." This is an inexpensive machine and if you're careful with it, it should serve you well. My escape key never did work and in a week it broke off. Yes, I could have it replaced but I have all my programs on it plus I use another keyboard. Also, the screen savers never go on and support couldn't help me short of saying restore it to it's default state.

It went online and on my network quickly and easily. Acer support is quick to get through to and they don't ask you a ton of questions before they help you like HP does. But, if you need more than basic help, it costs you.

The sound card is awful on this computer. I've never had one quite this bad.

All told, it's a fair computer that's good for the basics. It's good for business. But if you like good sound and bells and whistles, you need to look elsewhere. The one good thing is the graphics card and the screen. It has a lovely screen and a nice picture.

--Susanna K. Hutcheson

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purchased for my 15 yr old who loves streaming videos and music, its fast enough for game play and media downloads, slim design looks great. nice screen .

Buy HP Pavilion dv7-4060us 17.3-Inch Laptop

Customer Ratings:

I just purchased the HP dv7-4060us on Tuesday. There are so few reviews right now on this because it is such a new system. Right out of the box, this is ready to go. East step-by-step setup will guide you through personal settings, and setting up your wireless network.

The dv7 starts up very quickly. With the Quick Web feature, which I haven't tried to use yet, allows the user to access the Internet without having to start up Windows! This can be set up as the default setting when the unit is initially turned on. Since it doesn't have to boot up Windows, you can literally get online in 1/3 the time. Nice time saver.

Windows 7 took a little bit getting used to. I am switching from an XP Pentium M laptop, so it will take a little time to get acclimated. Should be no trouble, however, for most people. I like the feel of the chicklet style keys, with the full number pad too. 1GB of dedicated graphics, which supports DirectX 11, makes this machine good to great for most mid-to-high levels of graphic intense programs. I should be able to run AutoCAD with shading on this machine flawlessly. The high-performance ATI 5650 GPU can be switched off when operating on battery power, or when there isn't the need for the dedicated graphics. This saves battery usage and overall power consumption. HDD speed is 7200. Often, this is an upgraded charge in many laptops. 4GB DDR3 memory, expandable up to 8GB, should fulfill most needs. The display is brilliant, although not up to 1080P, but for a 17.3", you probably won't notice any issues. The screen does attract fingerprints. It has a large touchpad, however, I use a USB mouse. Use the fingerprint reader if you need the extra security. The webcam is easily viewable, and is very fluid in motion. Wireless card can be enabled/disabled by pressing a button on the keyboard. There are 4 USB ports (2 on either side) and an HDMI port too. The power cord plug is on the right side. This may get in the way slightly if you use a mouse. I didn't have any issue with that in the short time I have owned it. Also has a 9-cell battery, which for some systems, is an up-charge as well.

The specifications and rankings of this dv7-4060us Triple Core processor with 1GB of dedicated graphics, for the low price of $699 really can't be beat. Yes, you can spend another $200-300/minimum and get a little bit beefier machine if you are into heavy duty gaming and whatnot, but for the average to advanced user, this will certainly suit your purposes. For me, I couldn't justify paying the extra amount for more power that I wouldn't even use, for the most part, and I think you will find that to be the same.

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I bought the HP Pavilion dv-7 because I wanted a larger screened laptop. It's an increase over our HP 15 inch laptop, but I had imagined there would be a bigger difference. Another misconception I'd had is that this model had a backlit keyboard. It doesn't . The Beats audio played through the laptop's speakers is good, but far from spectacular. With some adjustment fiddling, the sound is acutally pretty good played through my external Logitech speakers. Enough whining already.

The Display Color is vivid and as good as on any monitor I've ever owned. As I type this review using the 60 day trial of Microsoft Word, the text is crisp, dark, and very legible. Photos look superb on this display as do graphics brought up online. Graphics are especially good using the 64 bit explorer but web videos won't play on this format. I won't pretend to be a gamer, but the few arcade style games I've played on this laptop look terrific.

To try out the display, I downloaded a movie from Amazon. The download only took a couple hours and the movie (The Dark Knight) looked great on the screen. There is a key to adjust the brightness of the display, but so far I haven't had a need to use it.

Keyboard I like the feel of the keyboard, though the keys are not as concave as on my other HP laptop. The keys are not as slick and shiny as those on the Toshiba laptops I've seen and there is more separation between the keys.

The touchpad is not overly sensitive and works fine, but I prefer using a mouse and keep a Logitech M305 attached.

Aesthetics This is a great looking laptop with an elegant looking silver finish. On the back of the lid is an HP logo that stays lit when the laptop is on. The keys do show fingerprints and the user is advised to type on these with clean fingers. I've noticed that this unit is also a dust magnet, more so than any laptop I've ever used. Best keep a can of compressed air nearby.

Windows 7My technical savvy is average at best, but even I have had no problems adjusting to Windows 7. It's easy to learn and seems much more stable than Vista. On the hard drive are videos and help screens for Windows 7 that many users will find helpful, especially initially.

Help guides Just about all the laptop information is on the hard drive. To get you started there is a start up poster and a rudimentary owner's guide. One of the odd warnings found in the pamphlet sized guide warns the user that the computer can get hot and he or she should not rest the laptop in his or her lap. Funny stuff.

Battery life For me it's great. I never use the laptop unplugged for more than two or three hours, more than enough time to watch a movie. The battery is quite large and snaps onto the bottom of the laptop externally. Its bulk raises up the back of the laptop which actually makes for an ideal typing position.

Adding peripherals is easy with this laptop. I have a printer upstairs which the laptop found quickly after I had loaded the Canon drivers on the laptop. If I can make a wireless connection, anybody can.

Fingerprint reader I figured this was a useless gadget that I'd seldom if ever use. I've actually grown to like it quite a bit. Once the fingerprint reader is set up, you just brush a finger over the reader instead of typing in a password. Like a kid, I get a kick out of it every time.

HP Quickweb is something I haven't used often. When the computer is turned on a Quickweb screen appears that allows the user to access photos, music , or even the web without the need to start Windows. It really doesn't take that long for Windows to kick in, so I seldom use the Quickweb feature.

Despite a few minor complaints, I have no regrets purchasing this laptop and would do it again.

Final Word Set up of the Hp dv-7 out of the box was child's play. I downloaded and installed some updates and set up a simple password. Then the computer restarted itself for all the updates to take effect. When the computer came back on it wouldn't recognize my password. What a nightmare. Finally after trying everything I could think of and researching the problem on another computer, I opened in safe mode and was able to start all over again, erasing all that I had done previously. From my Googling I learned that mine was not an isolated problem with Windows 7. The good news is that I've had no problems since.

UPDATE In the past week I've discovered the web cam and updated Windows 7 which added more features to the photo program. The webcam effects have to be seen to be believed. I'm having a lot of fun making videos of myself and sending them to the unsuspecting. The avatars are especially filled with possibilities for the imaginative. Now a whole new world has opened to me.

Best Deals for HP Pavilion dv7-4060us 17.3-Inch Laptop

Well after a lot of research and not really being a big fan of the OLD HP computers i found this baby to be the best deal around. I'm not an order off the internet kind of guy, and if i can find it around my area, then i usually get it. Well i saw the different models of this computer at walmart and sams club. One was around 900 and the other 1000, one had a blu ray player and one didn't. The main problem that these versions had was not only the price but a much lesser graphics card. Being a CITT, and working on computers for a long time have made me very picky and finally i decided to go with this one after i read one of the comments that they had this model at Office Depot. Thanks! Well to start the body is very solid, and its like a huge macbook. The chrome type aluminum brushed finish gives it a very appealing style, and its easy on the eyes. The older models and even some of the newer ones basically are very cheap looking and also they became very boring looking back in 2008 and 9 with the metal look and glossy black finish. I loved the old 2006 HP dv4000 computers, they were built like tanks and also had great sound. The speed is pretty sup par actually to the I series of Intel's, but still the AMD Phenom II isn't a slouch, its equivalent to the Core 2 Quad 9000 they say, which seems about right to me. The ATI GPU is the big sellar here, its actually a class 2 card, right under the big boys and can run all the latest games on high or medium settings with decent to very good FPS. I didn't really want it to tote around because i have a very nice emachines,(yes nice) that i use for everything else. The only thing it lacks is graphical power, good speakers and a web cam so i really intended this for a desktop replacement, and a gaming rig i could take on vacation etc.

All that said i'm really pleased overall with this laptop, i'm typing this review on it right now. I haven't gotten a taste of the batter like yet, but its a larger 8 cell so i'm sure its pretty good in itself. The computer actually doesnt run hot, warm yes, but a comfortable warm that doesnt burn your leg hair off. I can say the key board is right up there with Sony Vaio's and Mac's, not "quite" as poppy(bouncey) but excellent to type on. A few strange things i did notice to make me only give it a four, but hey thats not bad.

1. No backlit keybaord, which is odd considering everything else. And the keys don't illuminate well in the dark.

2. There is really no use for the function key and i'm looking for either a button to turn it on, or something in windows. You simply hit the function keys for volume, brighness etc. and it works, withOUT holding down the actual key. Strange.

3. There is no scroll down, sideways or any other direction on the mouse pad, but it is very smooth and responsive. Perhaps i'm missing how to turn it on as well.

4.Last but not least, i've never had a higher end Laptop with an ATI GPU, only Nvidia. My desktop has an ATI 4850 which is a class 1 and a bit more powerful, but thats all. The problem with the ATI gpu's is that the laptop versions of these are very finicky about what games they like, and whether or not the games like there drivers. For instance i tried to play Timeshift(an older game) and it just kept freezing, which it warned me to update the drivers and i did. But still this didn't help. The only others i've test so far was Batman Ark Asylum, and Clive Barkers Jericho, both pretty heavy on graphics. Both ran flawless at full 1600x900 resolution.

One of the last things is the sound, the Beats Audio is loud, but doesnt necessarily sound all that great. With adjustments it sounds good, but it really lacks good clarity and sounds a bit muffled with high end bass type songs. You really lack hearing cymbals, and high end instruments seem to be pushed into the backgound. With all that said this is still a great computer, none are flawless and for the price you just can't even come close to beating this one. The sony Vaio for 999$ at BB was nice but it had an Nvidia 310 card, which was barely a class 3 card and would run very much of anything. And i almost got a few other high end models but didn't wanna spend the cash. Being that i'm a casual gamer and like games anywhere from 2004 till 2008 the best, this really isn't an issue. I haven't tried Just Cause 2 yet, but i'm sure on medium specs it will run just fine. So don't blow your wad on 2000 Alienware if you really don't need it, just grab one of these before there gone. From what i've seen that will be soon.

UPDATE-Games that i've played on this laptop(tested)

Call Of Duty Modern Warfare-Full specs, great.

Devil May Cry 4-Of course not a hitch

Cryostasis-Some lag in most areas, but with Vsync off, and no Anti-aliasing its fine.

WOW-Not a big fan but i tested it, and it runs great.

Bioshock 1 and 2-Full everything.

Just Cause 2-Runs good, but i like the 360 version better.

Crysis-The GPU only has limited options for resolution, 1368x768, isn't one of them. So its low or nothing. Oh well, that game is over hyped.

Condemned-Great

Half Life 2-Orange Box-Great on all settings.

There are others and they have worked great, only a few that you really have to tone down. Luckily i didn't like most of them anyway. :D

Btw-Great web cam on this thing also. Lots of cool effects. ENJOY!

UPDATE-Just played Singularity on this, and got up to around 48 fps on full specs! Thats awesome for a computer this cheap:)

The chip in this computer rates up with the Nvidia 260m, it rates 6.7 in windows 3D graphics and Aero, just the same.:D

UPDATE 2-Since this computer has barely been out a month i keep updating as i use it more. The graphics card is out of this world for the price, just played COD Modern Warfare 2 at full specs, flawless, no lag, nothing. Also it prefers direct x 10 or 11 games so its definitely ready for newer games. On one bad note some older games are playable, but you HAVE to use lower resolutions as they are not programmed for a newer GPU, and direct x 11. Dx 9 games work well, but you can tell its not as happy with them. So its good and bad, but great because its ready for tomorrow.:D

Honest reviews on HP Pavilion dv7-4060us 17.3-Inch Laptop

my 4 yr old dell mother board died and needing an asap replacement, i went to consumer reports for info. after 2 days, it's so obvious why it has such a good rating. i thought the new operating system (windows7) would throw me over the edge (senior brain power) but it's been a walk in the park. Everything is so easy, clear and quick results. I've had toshiba (which I loved) and dell...never thought i'd become an HP fan...but it's hard not to be with the friendliness of this laptop.

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Usually, I have bad luck with computers, but this one for about 2 months so far has been nothing but a real pleasure. HP does one good thing, which is making computers! I had computers from all different companies and there would always be problems with them, but I think HP just really engineered a nice piece of technology here. There are three main reasons why this laptop ranks higher over others: 1) It has a nine cell battery, meaning you can stay hours away from the power outlet, making this good for long trips, class, etc. 2) HP puts the speakers in the front of the laptop instead of in the back. Some laptop companies like to make things all fancy with eye appealing speakers in the back of the computer, but this is impractical due to the user usually being a foot or more away from the screen. HP utilized the acronym KISS (keep it simple, stupid) where they just put the speakers in the front, hence keeping my volume at 15 percent and still being able to hear a movie with no problem. 3) It has a ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 card which truly makes a difference when watching stuff in HD. It makes the world of difference, keeps everything playing smoothly, plus I'm sure it is beneficial if you are a gamer as well. I was also confident in buying my purchase from Amazon, because I believe they give you 30 days to report the product if it malfunctions, and usually if a glitch is present it is going to surface in the first 30 days. Just in case, I used HP support before and they are more competent than other laptop brands, where they will just remotely access my computer and fix anything that is bothering me, instead of me trying to follow the directions. As I am truly a picky person with computers, I can say that I am one hundred percent satisfied with my HP purchase from Amazon!

Best Lenovo IdeaPad Y460 0633 - Core i3 2.13 GHz - 14″ - 4 GB Ram Deals

Customer Ratings:

Been using my y460 for a year and half, never once had any troubles so far with it, its been rock steady with usage around 10 hours a day. I do everything on it from video editing to gaming, since its got a dedicated card I can do all those things without the hassle of waiting to long for the editing stuff, in some programs at least the GPU helps. I would say buying any laptop even a ultrabook now without a dedicated card is just silly even though there is better CPU integrated graphics like the Intel HD 4000 in the new IVY bridge processors to me no laptop should be without a dedicated graphics chip, just really silly if you ask me to not have it.

Watch out for the new Lenovo ideapads that have just been announced the Lenovo Ideapads Y400/Y500, they got back lit keyboards and the ability to swap out optical bays called ultrabays that let you add a second graphics card in SLI, a freaking 14 inch laptop that is actually 13.6 inches wide with SLI, HAH, amazing!

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Samsung Series 7 NP700Z7C-S01US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Silver) Review

Customer Ratings:

This is my first ever review but this Samsung series 7 17.3" laptop is simply AMAZING in every way so I felt compelled to write this review. OK, I received it yesterday afternoon via UPS (wish amazon would offer FedEx as an option). My first impression was just how Beautiful and sleek it looked not to mention thin. It seems to be very sturdy and looks well built. Plus only about 1" thick and although its a 17" with the small border around the screen is almost feels like a 15 inch in my opinion. Just under 5lbs on the weight I believe.

I turned it on and the matte screen was very clear and detailed and Bright. I was a little leary about it being a matte screen as I never had one and hoped the screen wouldn't look too dark or unclear. Not an issue! Two things I Love about it is that it is full HD with a 1920x1080 screen rez/size. And secondly it has a lit keypad with an option on how bright you want it to be. Excellent! Full HD and a lit keyboard are two important options to me. The JBL sound with sub woofer is the Best sound I ever heard on a laptop.

One thing I wish it had was a simple switch on it to turn off the intergrated graphics forever as to use the GT650M all the time. I had a lenovo laptop that had that. However there is still a way to do this if desired (I believe?)using the Nividia settings.(manage 3d-> "high performance" on drop down). I read from a few that the keybooard on left side will get very warm? I will say that may be true for some. I can only say that I set it up, adjusted settings and played around with it for about 2 1/2 hours straight and the keyboard on mine remained cool and not even an issue at all. Of course I didn't do anything very demanding yet. Noise level was extremely quiet on mine. It wasn't until I turned it off almost 3 hours later that I realized ..."Hey, I didn't even notice fan noise" there but very quiet for me.

The three things that annoyed me, I do NOT like are as follows:

#1. The hard drive is Large at 1 TB. Great! but is very slow and holds it back. Samsung should have put a SSD in it. Guess they chose not to to save money. I suggest swapping out the HD and replacing it with an SSD.

#2. Pricey. The price is more then I was hoping to spend. But well worth it. You get a superior product with many features.

#3. This issue has bothered me on every amazon purchase I make. This has to deal with amazon shipping. I really wish amazon would offer an option to us buyers prior to placing an order to use FedEx instead of UPS only. I always pick 2 dsy shipping and always my purchase shows up very late (6:30pm for this laptop)or even 3 days later instead of two. But again this is not related to the laptop itself and no fault to amazon.

My conclusion: In a nutshell. I am Extremely pleased thus far with this laptop. I would buy it again and would highly recommend it if you are looking for a top of the line very nice and fast laptop. Of course all of the above is strictly my opinion and of this specific laptop I received.

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So, I just picked this bad boy up from B3st BVY. Couldn't wait for shipping as I'm on a military assignment. Going to jot down a review of the things that I like and a few things that stuck out to me. These will be in thought bubble format:

Painful to upgrade. Rather harrowing experience but there are guides online for the previous gen 17" that work well.

SSD upgrade a must. 1tb very slow.

Ivy Bridge + Keplar have lived up to their names. Very powerful, very energy efficient.

No room for RAM upgrade. Wish it had 4 slots.

Keplar GPU + intel 4000 make a really neat combo.

GPU does all modern games i've seen at med to high ( 1080p ) with some tweaking.

Very light for a 17".

Long battery life for a 17" ( 2 3 hours with med to heay use roughly )

Nice keyboard and backlight.

Very attractive case. Well put together.

Minimal flex in Display, considering it's a 17"

Very, Very sharp and crisp LED display. Looks amazing.

Very generous touchpad.

4 USB ports 2@ 3.0 and 2@ 2.0. USB 3.0 is amazing ( I use an external SSD for system backups )

Meh DVD drive. Slot loaded. makes noise.

Only 1 hard drive slot.

Built in 8gb SSD cache is interesting. Not useful, just interesting.

Nice, clear sound.

Overall I am very pleased with this laptop. It delivers the almost-mac experience without the mac-esque price. A very sleek, attractive, useful laptop that is intended to be portable power for anyone who needs it. For the price range there are very few competitors, and most of them have design flaws. That being said, if you're looking at doing mostly gaming and don't mind something about 3x thicker the ASUS G75VW is also a very good buy and delivers better gaming performance (and has 4 RAM slots and two hard drive slots).

But if you're an adult who doesn't want a computer that looks like a spaceship, and also don't want to tear open a shoulder joint carrying your laptop this is the way to go.

Best Deals for Samsung Series 7 NP700Z7C-S01US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Silver)

Purchased this machine expecting Samsung quality, fell short due to FATAL flaws. The biggest deal breaker is the absolutely atrocious wireless N performance and stability. Since this is a laptop/notebook, wireless N is crucial to the machine; I cannot be expected to carry around an external wireless adapter or a very long Ethernet cord. The Wi-Fi would have random latency spikes and packet drops (can be seen if you run continuous ping test) when any continuous streaming activity was initiated (such as video streaming, and gaming). This would happen as soon as you are one wall or more away from the router (ASUS RT-N56U). The other devices in my household on Wireless N do not have this issue and are connected to the same router on the same band. In fact, the HP Envy 17 I purchased to replace the Samsung machine has the same Wireless card (Intel 6235) as the Samsung and it does not have this problem. Wireless G on the Samsung machine seems okay, but I paid for a Wireless N laptop.

Aside from Wireless N issues, this machine has many other problems (as listed below in the Cons section). For one, Battlefield 3 at Medium-low settings is enough to push this machine to its thermal and power limits and the GPU/CPU aren't even at absolute full load yet. Some people may argue that this machine isn't "designed for games" and "excessive load applications" etc, but I expect to be able to use what I paid for, otherwise, why bother putting in high-end components (CPU, GPU powerhouse) into this machine which would be like putting a Jet engine in a compact-sized car only for showing off?

Pros:

+17.3" Full HD (1920x1080) screen

+Powerful 3rd gen i7 quad-core (Core i7 3615QM)

+Decently powered mobile graphics (NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M w/ GDDR5)

+8 GB DDR3 1600 RAM

+Heat sources are towards the center-right of the machine, away from WASD keys

+Decent speakers for a laptop

+Trackpad is reasonably responsive

+Sleek look, better than Macbook Pro

+6.3 lbs, very lightweight for a 17" notebook

Cons:

-Poor wireless N performance and stability (guessing due to the full aluminum lid and palm rest creating a partial Faraday cage)

-Only above average TN panel LCD screen

-Bevelled screen appearance near / above the Samsung logo (maybe I just got a bad one?)

-Runs at near thermal limits of the machine's components

-Hot air exhausts upwards, directly onto the lower edge screen (can't be good for longevity of the screen or the material holding the screen to the chassis)

-90W power adapter is not enough to run the machine at full speed (CPU is 45W, GPU is also 45W, rest of the system ~20W, that means 110W minimum), results in power throttling on CPU and GPU

-Very slow hard drive (5200 RPM 1 TB)

-8 GB ExpressCache has little to no effect on improving system performance

-Painful to upgrade anything other than the one stick of RAM exposed (have to open the back cover which is made entirely of flimsy plastic, held by 10+ screws, and numerous fragile plastic tabs)

-The other 4 GB of RAM is soldered directly onto the board, cannot be upgraded

Other thoughts:

Samsung might have put a 90W power brick in the machine on purpose; they probably knew the beautiful chassis and cooling system could not handle the two power-hungry components (CPU and GPU) so they intentionally did this to keep the machine's full potential from being unleashed.

I am very disappointed by this Samsung notebook because of these fatal flaws that simply cannot be overlooked especially when purchasing a high-end product; the laptop deserves 2 stars because of its sleek look, weight, and specs. Amazon's great service convinced me to give another star.

Honest reviews on Samsung Series 7 NP700Z7C-S01US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Silver)

I made this purchase about two weeks ago and really wanted to test drive it before writing a review. I will be brief.

First off the look and feel of this machine is truly awesome. The keyboard (backlit) is responsive and quiet, though a some rare occasions, I have noted what others have where a very occasional keystroke is not registered. The Touchpad is great though I confess I still prefer a mouse so that is what I generally use. The screen is bright and adjusts to ambient light. The speakers are awesome there is actually some real bass (a subwoofer is located underneath it). My last laptop was a Gateway P-7805u, three years old but is still kicking but these speakers are like a night and day difference, these JBL's really sound nice. Granted the Gateway has a higher Def screen than this one (1920x1200), but this is enough for my work (which is how this will be primarily used). Windows 7's Scores are very high, all except the Hard Drive (the weakest link in the Notebook) Though is packs a 1tb HD, it spins and only 5400RPM slowing some things up considerably. From what I read the next versions will have a 750gb HD but will run at 7200RPM. The good news is that it also has an 8gb SSD drive on the motherboard that makes boot times and 'everyday programs' launch very quickly. The Laptop is light for a 17 inch and of course the i7 Processor and Nvidia Video Card are truly awesome. While you can switch the Video Card to remain permanently on the Nvidia Chip (from the Nvidia Control Panel), power consumption will lag if you do. For most tasks, the onboard Intel Video is just fine.

Gripes: Yes I do not some. First off upgrading this thing is going to be difficult as the entire bottom of the Chassis has to come off no small compartments for HD or wireless replacements or upgrades. Second the Battery is not replaceable at (this time). Samsung Claims this battery will last 1500 cycles and still go strong. Me, I am rather skeptical but have employed the special Samsung Battery Life Extender Which sets the full charge at 80%. I still get a good 4+ hours of life with light to moderate usage. So until the battery croaks, I have no complaints. My hope is that they will eventually sell a replacement battery online in a couple of years as I plan on keeping this notebook until it dies on me. FYI I still have an old Dell Inspiron I bought in 2005, so Yes, I do hang on to my old computers and don't have a problem plopping down a hundred bucks every three years or so to get a new battery. BTW, I did query Samsung via email about a replacement battery on their site about this but never got an answer back.

Second gripe, I understand that there is only one HD bay (though I have not opened up the Chassis to find out). That kind of sucks because a second bay could easily make the HD speed issue moot. Just add another drive. The good news with this PC is that unlike many others, they actually put in a Real Live complete recovery DVD. I am glad because I know I will need it one day.

Third Gripe. For many this may not seem important but it is for me. Samsung does not support Linux. I have run the Live CD with Ubuntu 11.04, 12.04 and the latest version of Bridge Linux (based on Arch). The Ubuntu flavors gave me grief whereas the Arch Linux version ran smooth and was most responsive. However in none of the Linux versions did the backlight on the keyboard work. I have yet to take some time out and actually install it for real and probably won't for some time. Frankly I purchased this because I wanted to get one before Windows 8 comes and Linux versions get locked out because of UEFI secure boot. It was the primary reason I bought it now.

Overall, I am most happy with the purchase. I am not a Windows fan but will 'suffer' under it until I have a couple of days to spend setting up A good stable Linux partition to run along side Windows.

Five Weeks Later

Still in love with this machine. I have finally made the system Dual boot and am now using Linux Mint. Most things work. What does not work with Mint are

1) The Keyboard backlit does work, but appears to have settings in the bios that allow the lights to come on only if they were left on when you booted out of windows.

2) Wireless networking works until you put it to sleep, then it will not reconnect no matter how hard you try. This is a common problem with the New Intel systems and Linux. Workaround I have a small USB wireless card that works fine, unplug and then replug it in and all is well.

3) The Subwoofer: It does not work in Linux; two main speakers are fine... but no bass.

4) Some of the hot keys (alongside of the Function keys) do not work.

5) Nvidia does not support Optiums in LInux so you are stuck with Intel integrated graphics. Unless you are gaming or doing some heavy video editing, you will not notice a difference.

6) The 8GB internal SSD drive is for Windows only. Linux does not recognize it and its features are not available.

But you can still do most things. Clearly this box was made to be primarily a windows machine. The the disappointing support for Linux is starting to be a trend with many hardware makers.

If there is any other gripe I can level at this is the lack of multi-media keys. With a machine this nice it would be nice to have play/pause/back/forward keys. There is certainly plenty of room around the keyboard and palm-rest for them.

I can say that I have had no issues with it, it is fast, no lockups and no issues with the video card (as was reported with earlier ATI models) and when our power went out during the recent DC storm, I had about 8 hours of 'play time' with the battery.

Again, you cannot go wrong with this. It is a very fine system. The newer ones appear to have a smaller but faster spinning hard drive (750gb). I just don't think anyone looking for a Macbook like system can go wrong with this computer.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Samsung Series 7 NP700Z7C-S01US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Silver)

There are many 17" laptops out there, but few that pack the specs of this Samsung Series 7 without gaudy "gamer" looks. The new Chronos 17" features the latest 3rd gen Core i7 processor, the new Geforce GT 650M (2GB), 8GB ram, and a slow 1TB HDD (5400 RPM). The price is higher than an Asus or Toshiba (and those have slightly better specs), but you are getting a beautiful, well designed machine that rivals Apple's product offering.

The laptop comes minimally packed, with little more than a manual, AC plug, and restore disc, but Samsung loads their machines with easy to use software that guides you through updating drivers and configurating your machine with ease. There is minimal bloatwarea games suite and some annoying Norton popups, but for the most part you're ready to go.

Performance is great. The laptop has a quick-wake feature which boots virtually instantly from sleep mode. If you prefer to shut your machine down, the startup times are incredibleliterally 1/4 of the time compared to my old machine and my work laptop (running Windows 7/Vista). The keyboard is chiclet styled, and I find myself making some mistakes on it because I am too fast for the keys, but it is well spaced and includes a number pad. The backlight is tastefully done, and allows you to pick how bright it is. The machine is not silent, but the JBL speakers will overpower the fans, and they sound awesomea huge leap over any other laptop I've owned.

Although the laptop is powerful, I am not sure it's right for gamers. I have put about 15 hours into Diablo 3 on this machine with great results (the game runs with max settings minus shadows and hits around 40-60 FPS), but the center of the unit gets very warm and the fans don't seem to do a very good job keeping it cool. I purchased a Cooler Master notebook cooler to help out, since I am nervous about the long term with this unit overheating. There are not a lot of vents on the machine and it is very thin, maybe I'm just worrying but I don't know what long term effects heavy gaming would have on the internals.

The screen is mind blowingit's matte, so initially it will not look as vivid as a glossy screen, but the colors are beautiful and it's bright and very sharp. Samsung has different video profiles that will shift color temps according to what programs you are running. The screen opens and closes with little flex, and the rest of the laptop feels very well made and durable.

Overall it's a great machine, you're paying a little more for the style, but you're not paying $1000+ more like you would be with a Macbook. I like how they included a restore disc, but do not like that they only put in a 5400 RPM HDD and a CD/DVD burner instead of a BD ROM drive.

Review of Acer C710-2055 11.6-Inch Chromebook (Iron Gray)

Customer Ratings:

I have never written a review before, due to the fact i have never felt the need to. This is a great supplemental computer. I not sure I would have it for my only computer for now but i can see it becoming one in the near future after some needed upgrades (Skype for one). If it had Skype it would be the perfect computer for deployed military members. I have been deployed multiply times so when i say that i want you to know where i am coming from. It is quick and exceptional for travel. People complained about the weight but that complaint carries no weight. 4 1/2 stars is what it deserves but that's not a choice. I would recommend to other computer users who like to explore new IT solutions. Acer is the way to go with this....not the other choices.

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Your instinct is to compare it to a Windows PC but this is a new internet device which is 100% cloud based. Its also a Google product machine yet it runs thousands of apps one of which is MS Office 365 which is cloud based if you must have complete compatibility with MS Office files. Security is a strong point since no Win malware can infect this new OS and you don't need anti virus at all.

The display on the Acer is better than the slicker looking Samsung but it also has a VGA port not just a HDMI which means you can create a desktop by porting your current vga monitor, usb mouse and keyboard; it also has a ethernet port not just WiFi. The 2GB memory version is very fast so this 4GB will allow even more tabs to be open and responsive. The 6 cell battery makes it competitive with Samsung version and runs Netflix with no flicker at all. It has 3 usbs which work well with flash, SD, usb HD and optical too but for mostly read only. Unlike Win it does not slow down with use and is being improved ever few months with new functions for free. The remote control Chrome app is great for networking with a Win PC if you must gain access to programs or data remote. Printing requires either a Google cloud based printer (I got an Epson wf-3520; does Apple airprint too and dual side scanning...all for $110..awesome) or a Win PC acting as a print server with legacy printers or you can print as a PDF and then port them with a flash drive to a Win based printer. If you get the $200 version you can buy a $50 6 cell battery from acer to get the extra endurance. If you want a full size screen than look at the HP version.

Update.....Acer recently replaced the HD with a 16G SSD for the 2MB versions which means it boots as fast as the

Samsung now and now they have done the same for the 4G HD version here; if boot speed is your thing then take a look at that model too.

Overall this is a great choice for any public use PC and for students of all flavors due to price and function........the more people get used to this OS the more they will like it since its the PC we should have had day one not the kludge MS created for us all...............

Best Deals for Acer C710-2055 11.6-Inch Chromebook (Iron Gray)

I love Chromebook and I love the Acer C7; see my big review at Acer C710-2833 Chromebook or Acer C7 C710-2847 Chromebook.

However, *this* Acer C7 version is not the Chromebook for most users. Most users should get the Acer C710-2833 Chromebook for $199 instead. There are three changes in this Acer C710-2055: (1) 2GB extra memory for a total of 4GB; (2) a 6-hour battery instead of a 4-hour battery; and (3) a 320GB spinning hard drive instead of a 16GB SSD. Don't let the sizes fool you, the spinning hard drive is a significant downgrade in performance, and a larger hard drive offers little benefit on Chromebook for most users.

$80 is not a bad price for 2GB memory and a longer-life battery. But the hard drive is a downgrade. One of the best things about the Acer C7 is that it's upgradeable, so you could buy the $199 machine and upgrade the memory and battery yourself. (At present, March 2013, Acer C7 users mostly seem to get an after-market longer-life battery from a third-party supplier named CDW.) It would probably end up around $80 for an after-market upgrade too, so if you're sure you want the extra memory and battery life, this $280 one would be a reasonable choice; but for most users, I'd still advise against it because of the slow spinning hard drive.

Honest reviews on Acer C710-2055 11.6-Inch Chromebook (Iron Gray)

I bought this as an experiment, to some extent, although having downloaded ChromeOS to fiddle with over a year ago, I knew about what to expect. But I'd never used it exclusively on a dedicated machine. I'm very pleasantly surprised.

*The OS: Am learning more all the time, but have found it to be very useful once I resigned myself to using mainly Google Docs, which I had resisted up to now. It was a good thing to learn, because my misconceptions about its limits proved to be pretty much unfounded. Part of this machine's role will be as a travel laptop that will need to access company documents sometimes, and I now know that while I might not be doing heavy editing or writing a new SMS manual in Google Docs it will work for what I do need it to do. I also like the speed of the OS, both starting up and on the web.

The more I learn about ChromeOS, the better I'm liking it. There is a learning curve, but it's pretty easy. There is also a fun factor. I look forward to continuing updates and improvements, which will come to the machine in free, effortless updates nothing to keep track of. Freedom from malware is huge, too. Given what I intend to use it for, thumbs-up on the OS.

*The Hardware: I had tempered my expectations for the Acer, based on its low price I told myself not to expect too much refinement. But it's quite nice, really, if a little plain-vanilla looking; I've ordered a skin to jazz it up a bit. Quality seems good, fit & finish are fine, it's solid, I even like the keyboard. The screen is good, and bright enough for outdoor use I sit and work on the porch at home a lot. Battery life is as advertised about 6 hours. So no complaints about the hardware.

One reason I wanted the Acer instead of the Samsung is that I thought I might put ChrUbuntu on it, for the full OS and apps and the Acer, with its 320GB HDD, has ample room for the extra OS. It also uses an X86 processor, so it will run standard apps like LibreOffice unlike the ARM-based Chromebooks. I still might install ChrUbuntu, though I want to sound the depths of ChromeOS first. But even if I don't put the full OS on, I think the extra HDD room will come handy, as I'd like to keep large DrobBox and Google Drive folders on the laptop for off-line access.

Another thing I like about the Acer's construction is that HDD, memory and battery are replaceable or upgradeable. I like the idea that when SSDs get cheaper, for example, I could swap one in for a performance increase.

This is a good little laptop with surprising quality and speed at a very low price. I'm happy with my purchase and would recommend it.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Acer C710-2055 11.6-Inch Chromebook (Iron Gray)

I love this little giant of a Netbook. I have a Kindle Fire HD-7 but found the fonts to small. Being in my late 50's and vision being being a real issue. I found the Chrome book the best value for the buck. If all you need is a good Netbook for bill paying, web browsing and basic use then this will be just fine. Having the ability to use Wifi and ethernet is excellent. The Chrome OS does not need any Virus protection and upgrades itself and you never really know it.It comes with a larger battery than the C710-2487, but has a "baby bump" on the bottom that adds a little more weight. A batt charger also comes with the book. The only two items I would suggest is the Case Logic 10-11.6 sleeve cover and a Mouse (easier to use than the finger pad). Its ready to rock when you open the lid.!! Don't wast your money on laptops that have more bells and whistles that you really don't need.

Buy HP ProBook 4540s 15.6" Business Notebook PC - C6Z36UT

Customer Ratings:

It was easy to set up right from the box.It came preloaded with win7 which was my choice.It has a very durable case,strong hinges and an incredible keyboard.The display is sharp and crisp.There was hardly any bloatware to remove.

The only thing(very minor) is that the external speaker jack is in the front which is unhandy at times as I like to use an external

keyboard from time to time.

It came eqipped with 4gig of ram which is OK for most things.I added 4Gig and it made the laptop very quick.

I would highly recommend this unit for any one.

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Arrived on time 3 weeks ago. Easy setup. Wanted a laptop to replace an aging, slow-moving tower used mostly for email, Office docs and, more importantly, streaming video to our tv. Our goal was to have the Notebook's on-board display + VGA & HDMI displays lit up simultaneously. Intel (processor manufacturer) specifications stated "Supports 3 displays," but a pre-sale HP support guy said this was not possible and that only 2 would be available at a time. We didn't have confidence in his answer, so decided to go ahead and buy. Turns out he was right, though it can be done by adding a $150 multimedia docking station.

It was a bit bumpy getting the various displays configured for switching back and forth. At one point I thought that it might require plugging and unplugging the external displayswhich did not make me happy. I called HP post-sale support for assistance and got a guy who told me that the laptop *was* capable of using all three displays simultaneously. But he wasn't much help in showing me how to work out the software (Intel Graphics & Media Control Panel) configs to switch monitors and I had a sense that he was in above his head. He left me with the time honored "Update the graphics driver."

After poking around a bit, I found an HP app already installed which informed that I needed quite a few HP updates (some probably programs I will never use), but the graphics driver was not one of them. I confirmed that the driver installed is the latest. After installing the updates, I was able to get the monitors co-ordinated and we are doing fine.

What impressed me the most was that, a few days after my call, the HP tech guy *rang me up* to inquire if the problem had gotten resolved! I cannot remember the last time a customer service rep from any company called me back to find out if I needed additional assistance. For that alone I would give HP 5+ stars if I could.

Best Deals for HP ProBook 4540s 15.6" Business Notebook PC - C6Z36UT

very happy with this product. I would recommend it to any one. I would purchase it again it is worth the price

Discount Satellite 17.3" Notebook - AMD A-Series A8-4500M 1.90 GHz

Customer Ratings:

I purchased a 17.3 inch HP laptop and it was defective so I returned it.

I then ordered this Toshiba, making it the 5th Toshiba I have owned.

I have tried Lenovo, HP and Dell but I always end up using a Toshiba long term as the other brands always seemed to disappoint me.

Before I took the HP back, it was killing my wireless router, making me reboot it at least twice a day.

I called HP and they claimed it was a Microsoft 8 problem and I had my doubts about that.

I went to school to learn how to build and repair computers and know a bit about how they should work.

I also went to school to get my Microsoft Network Administrator certification.

Since I have been using this machine (now around 3 weeks), the router has never stopped so I believe the problem was with the HP machine, not Windows 8.

I don't know if it is me or that Toshiba makes the best laptops on the market, but Toshiba has always worked best for me.

Two of my three adult children use Toshiba laptops and the other brand was purshased because of a special deal.

I build and own several websites and FadedFootsteps is one of them if you wish, feel free to contact me through that website if you want to talk about laptops or find a a Civil War Veteran in your family.

I need lots of processing power to edit images and perform multiple tasks and this Toshiba has all I need to do a good job and not wait for processes to finish.

It is my understanding that laptop prices may be going to go up this fall 2013 as people move to "pad" devices and less laptops are built, so now is the time to buy a laptop if you have been on the fence about buying one.

The quad core processor is smooth and fast, the Toshiba laptop came with 6gigs of ram and I upgraded to 16gigs (purchased from Amazon) Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory (CMSX16GX3M2A1600C10)making this an amazing machine.

I have it loaded with Office 2013 and several software editing packages and loads and loads of pictures and files and it is running great.

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Reviews of ASUS Zenbook UX32VD-DB71 13.3-Inch Ultrabook

Customer Ratings:

Truth be had, I've been pretty disappointed with ultrabook offerings so far low resolution screens, terrible keyboards and below average power. With the UX31A and UX32VD series, Asus promised to change all of that, and, in my opinion, succeeded remarkably well.

1. Design/Aesthetics. This is a very pretty machine. It's lightweight, looks good and doesn't seem to smudge. Not much more that I can say here it's pretty and sleek. I wish that it had a MacSafe power adapter instead of the right angled plug, but I guess we have patents to blame for that.

2. Keyboard. The keyboard on this machine is fantastic. I would put it in the same league as the MacBook Air's keyboard, which is to say that it is very very good. In comparison, I thought that the keyboard on the original Zenbook was terrible. It's not quite as nice as the keyboard on my Lenovo T430, but it is still really high quality, and probably the best ultrabook keyboard currently available (and backlit, too). Love it. Some people have mentioned keyboard flex there is a tiny bit if you push down hard near the middle of the keyboard, but it's not something that I would have noticed if I wasn't looking for it.

3. Screen. The screen is excellent beautiful colors, 1080p resolution. There was a bit of backlight bleeding, but it's only in a few places, and it's only noticeable if the screen is entirely black, so really not a big issue. When the screen is not purely black, you couldn't even find it if you were looking for it. By default, the display is running at 40Hz not sure who was responsible for that decision which made things look choppy. Setting it to 60Hz fixed that problem though.

4. Software. Includes standard PC bloatware, which is kind of annoying but it is easy enough to remove. Of particular note is the Asus Update Manager, which is supposed to pull updates from Asus' website, but in reality just crashes repeatedly (I booted my Zenbook the first time to Asus's update manager giving me a wonderful stack trace as it died). Other included software is of similar low quality I'd recommend wiping the machine when you get it if you can. Also includes software for a touchscreen/pen I'm not sure what that's about, since this machine has neither.

5. Touchpad. I hate touchpads. This one seems responsive and sleek, but I just switched to using a mouse and disabled it. YMMV. Edit: Played with the touchpad for a bit, and I have to admit, I kind of like it. It's not as usable (in my most humble opinion) as the nub on a Thinkpad, but it gets the job done. Some settings I found to make it nicer: Turn off tap to click, so that your mouse doesn't click randomly while you're typing. And turn off Inertial Scroll in the Elan -> Multi-Finger -> Scrolling setting. It's makes scrolling choppy for some reason. Unfortunately, multi-touch isn't as integrated into the operating system as it is with OS X, so I feel like we'll have to wait until Windows 8 to see the true power of this touchpad. In its current form, the touchpad works as advertised it's responsive, smooth and very configurable.

6. Graphics. This machine has a dedicated graphics card, and while it's not the most beefy, it's certainly an improvement over the standard Intel 4000. Linux users note: This uses nVidia Optimus to switch between the integrated and dedicated graphics cards, which apparently doesn't have very good Linux support yet so if you plan on running Linux on this, do some research first.

7. HDD. 500GB HDD. In 2012. Unacceptable. However...

8. Upgrades. This is why I bought this machine. You can put an extra 8GB of RAM in (in exchange for 2GB of the built in 4GB) for a total of 10GB of RAM. You can also swap out the HDD for an SSD, which is awesome get one with a 7mm height though, or it won't fit.

Overall: If you are willing to upgrade the HDD and RAM, get this machine you won't regret it. It's light, it has a beautiful screen, an excellent keyboard, it's very fast, and with the upgrades, it is the nicest laptop that I have ever owned. If you are not willing to upgrade, I would say that you should get a MacBook Air or the Zenbook UX31A (or the Sony Series Z if you are willing to spend more) instead the SSD makes a huge performance improvement. I give it 4/5, because you have to spend a bit of time to clean up the garbage on it and install a better hard drive and more RAM, but once you do that, it is unmatched. Also, Microsoft is apparently going to offer a $15 upgrade to Windows 8 Professional, which is a great deal.

EDIT:

After a week with this machine, some more thoughts:

Really liking the trackpad. Turning off tap to click is key it is downright bizarre that the default has those settings on, I think that every reviewer complaint about the erratic touchpad is due to this setting being on. After turning it off, it's smooth, accurate and actually really nice to use. I upgraded to the Windows 8 Release Preview, and for a while I was wondering what the heck was going on when things were randomly being clicked and dragged around, before I realized that I had to disable tap to click again.

As for the keyboard after working with it for a while now, I don't like it as much as the MacBook Air's. It's still a very good keyboard, but the keys are a bit flimsy feeling for my liking, and very occasionally a keypress gets missed. Not bad by any means, but it could have been better. If you are really looking for a great typing experience on an ultrabook, you may want to wait to check out the Lenovo X1 Carbon, which should be available in August. Again though, the keyboard is very usable I'd put it as better than the Samsung Series 9, but worse than the MacBook Air and both of those machines have very nice keyboards. On the upside, keyboard flex on the UX32VD is definitely a non-issue.

Also, Asus's included software is bizarrely bad. Don't even try to use it. It doesn't work, or it crashes, or it uses a ton of CPU, or it just looks plain ugly.

Finally, if you are planning on upgrading the RAM, see the comments on this review I installed an 8GB 1600MHz stick, but it is only running at 1333MHz for some reason. This apparently has to do with the CAS latency of the onboard stick vs. the new one. I don't know how to get around this, that said, I wouldn't have noticed the difference if I didn't check the settings.

Still, very happy with it. I haven't put the battery through its paces, but unscientifically, it seems to last about 4 hours under high workload (writing code).

Anyway, knowing what I know now about this machine, I would be less hesitant to buy it than I initially was. It is very much an awesome computer.

EDIT (3/5/2013):

Months later, after using this extensively, taking a star off. This laptop has since become my primary machine, and I use it for hours every day. Since I wrote the review, I've upgraded to Windows 8 which I actually find really nice. (As an aside and this is NOT reflected in my rating I found Linux (Ubuntu distro) support somewhat depressing. Some keyboard Fn shortcuts didn't work in particular, brightness display the battery life was under 2 hours, and sleep didn't work at all. YMMV, though I run a VM now for my Linuxing).

Mostly I use this machine for writing code and basic internet stuff.

The machine is still speedy, and the screen is still beautiful Asus deserves a ton of praise for that. Battery life is about what I thought it was 4 hours on average under my normal usage, which isn't anything to write home about these days, but it's certainly more than adequate. I can even play modern games usually I have to lower the graphics, but on medium settings and at 1600x900, most games run at a smooth 60fps, which is impressive.

Things that I don't like though are the little things. The keyboard isn't as great as I thought it was I find that I miss keys, even when I clearly pressed them down. Again, it's not terrible, but Lenovo and Apple both do much better, and for a $1500 laptop I expect a lot. My hypothesis is that the keys click (both physically and audibly) slightly before the button press is registered, and as a soft touch typist, it causes me to release the key milliseconds too soon.

The touchpad is pretty bad too. The hardware itself is fine it's accurate and spacious, but palm rejection is just too bad to be useable. So I use a wireless mouse instead.

And the software oh the software. The wifi driver crashes every day or two, so I have to restart my laptop frequently. And when I put it to sleep by closing the lid, sometimes it doesn't go to sleep, so when I pull it out of my backpack it's too hot to hold and the battery is almost dead.

So overall, this is not a bad machine it has some very excellent points, in particular the display but my problem with it is that it's not the premium experience that I would get if I'd bought an Apple computer for the same price. The keyboard is mediocre, it doesn't always go to sleep, the built in software crashes, and the touchpad is unusable. And while I can deal with all of these things, I feel like I shouldn't have to, considering that I paid top dollar for this (and then some to upgrade it).

The end result is this: I'm going to buy a new laptop, probably this summer when Intel releases their new line of chips (Haswell). If Lenovo brings out a laptop with a nice screen (for example, an X1 Carbon with a 1080p display, or the Yoga 11S with at least 1600x900), it'll be a Lenovo, since their keyboards are unmatched. Otherwise, I'm going to switch to the evil empire and get a Mac.

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For specific details about the product I suggest reading other reviews from Amazon or other sites especially those done by Notebookcheck (here: ) or Anand (here: ). Keep in mind that Anand's review is for a different model of the same series, but many of the things are similar and there is some good info in there.

I HIGHLY suggest you read this review before buying. I am going to go over main points that I think everyone should be aware of before buying.

Disclaimer: For me this is a 5 star machine after the upgrades. I rate it 3 stars based on how it came from Asus. If you don't want to upgrade the hardware or don't feel comfortable opening the laptop, I would suggest getting either a UX31A or something like a Samsung Series 9.

1. Only buy this computer if you are willing to upgrade the HDD to an SSD. SSD prices are falling rapidly and you can even get a 240GB SATA III drive for $210 now if you shop around (this is end of June, 2012). Make sure you get an SSD that is branded as a "notebook upgrade kit", because they have a smaller form factor than standard SSDs, with a height of 7mm. As long as you get a 7mm drive, it will fit in this notebook. Keep in mind you will need a T5 torx bit and small phillips screwdrivers to replace the drive.

2. Upgrading the RAM is also a really good idea. 2GB are integrated into the mainboard, and there is only one DIMM. The 4GB the laptop comes with is not very future-proof, so I would recommend picking up an 8GB stick of DDR3-1600 (like this Corsair piece, model number CMSX8GX3M1A1600C10). You can pick it up now for only $57. This will bring the total RAM to 10GB, which is more than pretty much every other ultrabook out there.

3. You will need to install Windows without a DVD once you install your new SSD. If you use a USB drive you may get an error in the setup which says something like "Windows was unable to load CD/DVD drivers, please insert disc media and try again". What is actually happening is that because all three of the USB ports on this laptop are USB 3.0, the Windows 7 install disc files don't have native support. You simply need to go to the Asus product page downloads section, and download the USB 3.0 drivers for the 64-bit version of Windows. Extract the driver folder to the USB stick with the Windows install files and try again. The problem should be fixed.

4. The screen has backlight bleed when showing pure blacks. When there are any images on the screen at all it is not noticable, and turning down the brightness helps a lot as well. Other than the bleed, the screen is beautiful especially in terms of its negative vertical viewing angle (from below). It doesn't have any discoloration and is very nice looking.

5. If you elect not to swap out the drive for an SSD, it comes in a weird kind of partition set up. The model I got had a 186GB boot partition, a 254GB "Data" Partition with no files on it, and 32GB of SSD cache which is not accessible from My Computer, but shows up as a different drive in disk manager. The drive is also very slow despite the SSD cache. But it won't appear to be so to someone who has never used an SSD before.

6. Bloatware. While there is not that much, you are forced to agree to install the Bing toolbar before setting up windows, and there is some creative media suite, craploads of asus tools, something that looks like asus tried to make their own app store, macaffee antivirus pre-installed (trial) and more. More reason to upgrade to an SSD and clean install windows.

7. The power button. Asus elected to make their power button an actual key, putting it where Delete normally would go, in the top right. Now when I heard this, I was a little skeptical and thought that I might try to hit delete when using word or something, and accidentally shut off my computer with one missed key-press. I was happy to find the solution that Asus came up with when I booted into windows. First of all, the power button is much stiffer and requires more pressure to press than all of the other keys on the keyboard. Second of all, just pressing the key within windows does nothing. If you want to turn off or sleep mode the computer, you hold it for about 1 second, and an on-screen display (from Asus) appears with clickable options to either shut down, sleep, do nothing, etc. You won't run into any sudden shut downs with this new placement of the power button, but you might take a bit to re-learn where the delete key is (directly to the left of the on button).

8. Keyboard and trackpad. The keyboard is very nice for a laptop, and functions/feels almost identical to the Macbook Pro/Air keyboards as many have said. It is backlit with user-adjustable brightness levels (3 levels, and off) via the function key. The trackpad is nice, but nothing to brag about. It is a good size, smooth, and easy to use. It's everything you'd want with nothing extra. If you get in the habit of tapping to click instead of actually clicking the trackpad down I think you will be much happier with it.

All in all this laptop can be what you make of it. Having the dedicated GPU makes it a very nice ultrabook for light gaming and more powerful media applications. Also it provides a full-sized HDMI out, and good connectivity (3 x USB, card reader, micro-vga, headphone/mic combo jack, etc). The HDD will appear abysmal to anyone who is coming from SSDs. It will appear normal to those of you who have yet to experience the awesomeness of SSDs :D ... If you want to upgrade to an SSD, fresh windows, and larger RAM, this is the best PORTABLE PC laptop available right now bar none in my opinion. But if you want to keep the pre-installed Asus windows installation, HDD, and 4GB ram, then it is a very nice PC, but for the price point I only give it 3 stars.

If you have any questions at all please feel free to comment and I'll try to get back to you!

Best Deals for ASUS Zenbook UX32VD-DB71 13.3-Inch Ultrabook

If you haven't already, do your home work regarding the differences between the UX32VD and the UX31A. The main difference is that the UX32VD has a better video card and is upgradeable (can add RAM) but does not come with an SSD drive (which can be added too). I opted to go with the UX32VD and upgrade the memory and drive. The costs of the upgrades are roughly $200 for the SSD (256GB) and $55 for 8GB of RAM. Also, don't forget to get an external CD/DVD ROM drive (another $31).

If you plan to do the upgrade, start by watching the youtube videos on how to do the hardware swaps. Basically, you take off the back plate (requires a T5 Torx driver), swap the RAM, then loosen the battery and swap the hard drive. Be careful not to pull the battery too hard or it will pull off (or break) a wire that is attached to one end. Overall, the hardware upgrading takes about 15 minutes. Nothing too difficult if you're careful.

The software reinstallation takes a bit longer. You have two choices. You can backup (i.e., clone) your existing system using software such as Acronis True Image and then delete the bloatware, or you can just start with a fresh drive and re-install everything.

Initially, I chose the second option because I wanted a "clean" computer. I started by installing Windows. The first problem was that the computer wouldn't see the external CD/DVD ROM. I had to go into the bios (hit the F2 key during boot up) and disable the SSD from the boot sequence. That caused the computer to attempt to boot from the CD/DVD ROM. Don't forget to change it back after installing Windows. Once Windows was installed, I went to ASUS.com and downloaded the drivers. Nothing works well without them, including ethernet, wireless network, video control, etc. There are about 10 or 15 important drivers and applications that must be installed just make your way through the list one at a time. Obviously, you'll need a second computer with internet access to get the first drivers installed. One hint... the ethernet driver on the ASUS website wasn't the correct one for the UX32VD computer. Look in your control panel for the model number and search the web for the right driver. After doing all this, the computer worked fine. It did, however, lack a few drivers, and as a result I saw several yellow exclamation points in the Control Panel Device Manager. That bugged me, and I ultimately decided to go back and backup the original ASUS hard drive and simply delete the bloatware. Comparing the two methods, cloning was certainly less painful. If you have the backup software, I suggest that method.

Now that it's all done, I'm very pleased with my computer. It runs great, and the start up time is simply incredible.

Hope this helps!

Please be kind enough to indicate if reviews are helpful.

Written by Arthur Bradley, author of the Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family.

Honest reviews on ASUS Zenbook UX32VD-DB71 13.3-Inch Ultrabook

As the other reviews have mentioned, this model has a gorgeous display. After calibrating the screen it looked even better. There's nothing like a good IPS display! It has a slight matte finish, but is still very sharp and bright.

With the original configuration, Windows was using 2.8GBs of RAM. I recommend you either uninstall some of the Asus add-ons or do as I did and take advantage of the ability to upgrade the RAM. I purchased a Patriot 8GB RAM module from Amazon that bumps the unit up to 10GB's.

The keyboard is OK. I'm not a big fan of the chiclet style keyboard.

The touchpad is large and does get in the way when you're typing. It's very easy for your palm to touch it while typing, sending you cursor off to a random location. However, you can turn it off by using the Fn key.

I'm using it with a bluetooth mouse, with the touchpad disabled. I like using bluetooth for the wireless mouse becuase there's no USB dongle sticking out.

The battery life is very average. Maybe 3 hours or so of constant usage is all I seem to get. Though, I am not using the battery saver profile. So, I'm pretty sure it's possible to stretch it out a bit more.

Coming out of sleep mode it is very fast. I have it set to sleep when I close the lid. This laptop comes out of sleep mode in the time it take to raise the lid! What's that, maybe 2 seconds? Fantastic. That's where the hybrid drive really pays off. With all my software loaded, including an anti-virus progam, it takes about 35 seconds to boot up.

The build quality is very good. The design and look is beautiful. I haven't noticed any particulary loud fan noise. If I push the laptop hard, the fans will come on with a whooshing sound. But, nothing terrible. During normal use (Word, Excel, browsing the web) it is silent.

I do wish the power button wasn't just a regular looking keyboard button in the upper right. To easy to press it, as it sits right next to the DEL button.

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I have had this laptop for a little over a week, and I must say that I am impressed. After having bought and returned the original UX31 because of its keyboard issues, it seems like Asus really listened to its customers and made all of the right improvements.

The most obvious improvements over the UX31 are the keyboard and the screen. The keyboard is now island-style and backlit. I think feedback is great; it reminds me a lot of my old MacBook Pro. The screen, at least to me, appears to be in a league of its own. With a 1080p IPS panel, it is bright and incredibly sharp. Real estate space is fantastic and viewing angles are superb. And it's even got a matte finish, so glare is minimized. Kudos to Asus for these great design changes.

Additionally, Asus upgraded the CPU in this model from Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge and added a dedicated Nvidia 620M GPU. I have to admit that I'm not a gamer, so I don't expect to take advantage of the graphics chip. In fact, I probably would have preferred that Asus provided a (cheaper) version of this laptop without the GPU (but without the soldered components -see below). Also, the Sandy Bridge processor was totally capable for browsing the web, watching HD video online, and performing office tasks. Still, assuming battery life doesn't take too much of a hit (and it doesn't really seem like it has), I guess that more power is better than less.

Two things that really didn't change since the last version are the sound and the battery, and I consider this a good thing. Sound quality from the speakers is excellent -loud and clear, probably among the best I have heard on a laptop. Battery life also seems to be totally acceptable. It's not the best I've ever seen, but I still get like 6-7 hours under normal use, which is adequate for my needs. Also, the power brick appears to be the same. It's square and looks a lot like the Apple brick, except it's black. One good thing though is that it only has two prongs, so you don't need to carry around a 3-prong-to-2-prong adapter.

As I suggested above, I bought this model as opposed to the UX31A specifically because this model has some user-replaceable components, like RAM and hard disk. Apparently the trade-off was that this model doesn't have the same unibody design as the UX31A, but to be honest, I can't tell too much of a difference. It still weighs like 3.2 pounds, and build quality doesn't seem to be an issue. Also, while some people might gripe that Asus didn't include more memory and a larger SSD from the get-go, truth be told, it would probably have made the computer a lot more expensive. For less than $150, I was able to upgrade the memory to 10GB and install a fast 128GB SSD. I also appreciate the fact that, since these components are user-replaceable, it will be a relatively cheap fix if something goes wrong later on. The same can't be said for models with all soldered RAM and hard disks, like the UX31A or the MacBook Air.

Some users complained about the fan and the trackpad. I, however, haven't had any problems with either of these. As I said, I'm not a heavy gamer, but for me the unit is practically silent most of the time. Also, I don't really have any complaints about the trackpad. It is large and smooth, which I appreciate. Also, multi-finger gestures -specifically two-finger tap, two-finger scroll, and three-finger swipe -all work great! That is a nice improvement for PCs, which typically have inferior track pads.

Connectivity options seem to be okay. There are 3 USB 3.0 ports, a mini VGA port, an SD Card slot, and an HDMI port. My only complaint is that the SD Card sticks out about half way, so you can't just leave it in the computer all the time. I think this is a pretty stupid design flaw. Why not just make the card totally recessed, like in almost every other laptop out there?

That said, my quibble is minor. This is a really nice computer and I am happy to have bought it. Finally, I don't think I have any regrets about migrating from my laptop to an ultrabook.

Cheap Toshiba Satellite C655D-S5515 Laptop Computer / 15.6-inch HD

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List Price: $499.99
Sale Price: $479.90
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I got this laptop as a present for my first year of college and overall I'm pleased with the functionality it provides. Yes it is not a Macbook pro or an Alienware, but it is good enough for me to use Word, do research on the internet, and watch Youtube videos. If you need an entry level laptop for school or college at a great price, this will be my first pick.

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very affordable came on timeno issues. Brand new computer. I use it as a secondary lap top so I dont use all the time but fast and simple for basic use. Great for the money

update 1/18/2013

I have had to use it as a primary lap top After Uploading all my software I noticed it running a bit slow with some graphics.

I believe the graphics card is a little sub par but after upgrading memory to 8gb for around $60 and optimizing performance and virtual memory its fast enough.

Best Deals for Toshiba Satellite C655D-S5515 Laptop Computer / 15.6-inch HD

I like my new laptop and am enjoying using it. The only thing I don't like is that it has frozen up several times when I have more than one page open. I'm hoping this will get figured out as I get used to it.

Honest reviews on Toshiba Satellite C655D-S5515 Laptop Computer / 15.6-inch HD

I bought this computer Nov 5, 2012, and now, 3 months later, it is dead. It has crashed multilple times, and now it won't turn on at all. I do believe that the life of a computer should be longer than THREE MONTHS!!! If I could rate it lower than one star, I would.

This is the second Toshiba computer that has been a piece of crap and I will NEVER buy Toshiba again. This specific product was: Toshiba Satellite C655D-S5515 Laptop Computer / 15.6-inch HD Display Screen / AMD Dual-Core E-300 1.3 GHz Processor / 2GB DDR3 RAM Memory / 320GB Hard Drive / Double-layer DVD±RW / 6-cell Battery / Webcam / Windows 7 Home Premium / Black

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I have had problems with this computer since I bought it..software, hardware,crashing...you name it. Toshiba customer service is NOT helpful and to find some tech help where the person speaks English that you can actually understand is impossible. This review is no reflection on the seller...totally a dud Toshiba product..I would not recommend this product from my personal experience..I think I got a lemon! My daughter has the same computer and has had no problems at all!